There is a name for it, it’s called an “existential crisis.”
Great comment, just one suggestion: call it "mental health problem" and then the terms is even less precise than your suggestion! /s
AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers
61–70 of 221 posts
Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers
#62I am probably different to most people, but I always have trouble understanding why people want to have jobs so much. The obvious and direct answer immediately of course is "to be able to pay the bills". But of course if we automated those jobs with AI, we could direct AI produced value into universal basic income so people wouldn't lose their income. Then the concern is of course, that the owners will not share the…
> just do what I want to do all day Are the things that you want to do productive in any way? A sizeable portion of people have an innate drive to "produce" actual value.
Productive in which ways? I wouldn't be producing value for the society right, because AI would be doing that. But I could be doing things for my physical/mental health, right?
Other things could be just satisfying own curiosity, sports, hobbies, video games, films, books, shows. Kind of like being able to be child again?
Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
> we could direct AI produced value into universal basic income so people wouldn't lose their income. This would never get approved in the USA. Think of the backlash here against "Obamaphones" and "welfare queens" - we can't even get paid parental leave approved! Let alone disability, social security or SNAP/food benefits. UBI is not even an option. Even now we're taking away food benefits and tying it to mandatory w…
The USA would rather pay half the population to dig holes and the other half to fill them in, than simply provide a basic standard of living for all.
But what about Japan? Sorry, I meant Germany. Sorry, I meant USSR. Vietnam? Iraq? Iraqistan, or was it Afghanistan? Iraq, yes! Russia, Russia! Oh, look, China!
Knock, knock. Who's there? I ran.
Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers
#64How utterly pointless. AI slop posing as “commentary” on the AI crisis.
Yeah, they tried hard to sound academic at the outset but the repeated references to Reddit vote counts was an obvious tell.
Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers
#65[deleted]
Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers
#66I am probably different to most people, but I always have trouble understanding why people want to have jobs so much. The obvious and direct answer immediately of course is "to be able to pay the bills". But of course if we automated those jobs with AI, we could direct AI produced value into universal basic income so people wouldn't lose their income. Then the concern is of course, that the owners will not share the…
Has it ever occured to you, presumably, a white collar worker, to "give back" to others less fortunate than you? With your presumably, well-above earnings, does it ever cross your mind to give a recurring stipend to some other people, even though it could make a real difference to someone?
Not really? I guess you got your answer.
Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers
#67I am probably different to most people, but I always have trouble understanding why people want to have jobs so much. The obvious and direct answer immediately of course is "to be able to pay the bills". But of course if we automated those jobs with AI, we could direct AI produced value into universal basic income so people wouldn't lose their income. Then the concern is of course, that the owners will not share the…
I think for me it's hard to conceptualize what "do what I want to do all day, stress free, for the rest of my life." really means. Maybe it's just because i've been conditioned since a child to expect to "work" and "do things", but periods of my life where i've had that similar amount of freedom have always felt somewhat aimless and purposeless to me. But would i feel that way if i had never felt the need to work and…
I think the core disconnect here is that, to some degree, people have a hard time conceptualizing the difference between needing a job and wanting a job.
I can tell you, freely, that if someone dropped $10m in my lap, I would not stop programming - I started before I was paid, and I will continue as long as my input methods, perception, and/or brain permit.
The difference is in the quality, texture, and structure of how you work, and of course what you work on. I almost certainly would be working in the structure of larger organizations.
There is some interesting post-scarcity fiction out there, speculative and otherwise, that tries to answer the question "what do we do when we are no longer required to work for pay". Manfred Macx would say that it's great fun to make other people incalculably wealthy. Or, you could simply be kind and generous with your time in service to causes you like.
Frankly, if someone dropped $10m in my lap, I'd almost certainly take 2-3 months sitting on the beach, but after that, I'd try something even more ambitious. Surely there are hard problems we could be solving that we're constrained by paid work from pursuing.
I'd probably also expand my hobby practices - there's lots I could do with better tooling and toys (my pottery studio could use a pugmill!), and discover new ones as well.
Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers
#68During Covid, we, the intellectual class, spent our year lamenting, explaining, meme-Ing, about what a change it was. Meanwhile, every day, billions of poorer people got up and went to their jobs as normal. I’m in lockdown and Grace, the grocery store clerk, is going to work just like any other day, just in a mask.
We’re up in arms about AI. We’re asking what does a future where AI can do all the work look like. Where fantasizing about the end of capitalism or fearing the dark futures.
We believe that our jobs matter. That the destruction of our jobs will start a revolution. That we matter.
AI grief is our class realizing that our future is that of those grocery store clerks, and that we did nothing for grocery store clerks when we had money and influence, and no one will do anything for us.
Elysium is the future, not Star Trek.
Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers
#69I am probably different to most people, but I always have trouble understanding why people want to have jobs so much. The obvious and direct answer immediately of course is "to be able to pay the bills". But of course if we automated those jobs with AI, we could direct AI produced value into universal basic income so people wouldn't lose their income. Then the concern is of course, that the owners will not share the…
How do you envision that playing out? It would basically be like everyone that didn’t still have a job living off minimum wage. Would no one be allowed to work also?
Re: AI job grief: A psychological crisis hitting tech workers
#70How utterly pointless. AI slop posing as “commentary” on the AI crisis.
> How utterly pointless. What would make it less pointless in your opinion?
If it was written by an actual subject matter expert instead of a "performance marketing and paid social media director" it would probably be valuable, as then one could be assured there was some sort of quality control going on.